Cartier Jewelry Heir Busted for Laundering Money with Crypto
The US Justice Department (DoJ) arrested an heir to the Cartier empire on May 2. He was charged with laundering proceeds of drug trafficking using Tether’s USDT stablecoin. The charges mark a rare intersection between influential people and crypto-related crime.
According to the DoJ’s indictment announcement, Maximilien de Hoop Cartier, a direct descendant of Louis Cartier, the founder of the luxury jewelry collection firm Cartier, allegedly coordinated with a Colombian drug cartel to import 100 kilos of cocaine and laundered hundreds of millions of dollars, primarily through over-the-counter (OTC) USDT trades.
Cartier’s indictment showed that he allegedly employed shell companies, presenting them to financial institutions as legitimate software and technology businesses, and used these companies’ accounts as unlicensed money transmitters.
It was also revealed that the Cartier Jewelry heir and his Columbian accomplices allegedly managed to launder $14.5 million worth of USDT stablecoin before their arrest. He is currently awaiting sentencing at a Miami detention center and faces four counts of criminal misconduct while his accomplices are being held in Colombia.
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